0

Promoboxx, a TechStars Boston 2011 company focused on brand-to-retailer marketing, has just closed its seed round of $565,000. The funding comes from individual angels Dave Balter, Peter Bordes, Adam Berrey, Jean Hammond and others. In addition, institutions including SK Ventures, Brand Ventures, and Launch Capital have also committed.

The company’s online service allows retailers to quickly set up online promotions, while also allowing brands to set up promotions that are automatically customized for local retailers’ use.

Today, brands spend nearly $30 billion each year supporting retailers with offline materials, including in-store signage, yellow page ads and newspaper ads. But almost none of that marketing money is spent online, even though 90% of all products are still sold through physical stores.

“Brands don’t realize the marketing potential of their retailers” says Promoboxx co-founder and CEO Ben Carcio, “with the consumer surge and popularity of shopping local, many retailers have created large followings on Facebook, Twitter, etc. and when combined together, they often have a greater reach than the brands they sell,” he explains.

That’s where Promoboxx comes in. Using its online service, stores can set up retail promotions in minutes, with sweepstakes, coupons, giveaways and other promotions that aim to drive foot traffic to stores. The online dashboard allows retailers to publish those promotions anywhere, including via email or to social networking sites like Facebook. It also supports things like custom Facebook tabs, and Facebook “like” requirements to collect leads.

Brands, on the other hand, can also use the service to set up one promotion that’s automatically customized for an unlimited number of retailers, using all the same tools to tap into the retailers’ local client base. From the dashboard, the brand can track the promotion impressions, leads and conversion rates across all the retailers involved.

Promoboxx is headquartered in Kendal Square, Cambridge, MA, and is now working with brands like Primesport, Cat Footwear, Bates Footwear, Vertx, and Mattingly Sports. The company’s founders, Ben Carcio, Sonciary Honnoll, and Dan Koziak, have deep marketing backgrounds, allowing them to bring their expertise to this new company.